Two of three incumbents re-elected, two new faces on Macomb BOE

The Macomb Board of Education will have two familiar faces and two newcomers moving into coming term.

Incumbent John "Larry" Adams was the top vote-earner in the BOE race Tuesday night, earning 599 votes, or 15.65 percent of the total votes cast.

"Whatever the outcome would have been tonight, I would have gone with it because that's the will of the people," he said in an interview Tuesday night. "But the bottom line is that I want to thank the Macomb community for allowing me another term to help serve. I want to congratulate the new board members and congratulate everyone who was a part of that process — even the ones who didn't win."

Adams said he has no clear-cut agenda moving into his next term on the board — in fact, he said one of the things he's learned during his time on the board is that "you can't come on the board with an agenda."

Adams said the board has to work together to solve problems and keep Macomb schools moving forward. However, he indicated that much of the board's focus in the near future might focus on collective bargaining negotiations and the Illinois' economic issues as they relate to funding for public education.

"There's a lot of stuff to keep things on my plate and the plates of the other board members," he said.

Jill Joline Myers, an associate professor of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration at Western Illinois University, earned the second highest number of votes totaling 589, or 15.37 percent of total votes cast.

"It's beyond exciting," Myers said after learning the results of the race. "I think we're going to have a good school board."

Now that she's been elected to the board, she said her priorities are school safety, cyber-bullying, the training and treatment of kids and what schools should do to prevent bullying. Myers also said she would like to see "more fairness" across the district in terms of how schools treat kids with conduct disorders or special needs.

Myers said she has been researching bullying for several years while at WIU, has co-authored a book and does a number of school trainings.

"I started out doing free speech things and how cyber-bullying is becoming the No. 1 problem school kids are encountering — particularly middle school kids," she said.

James La Prad, associate professor of education and interdisciplinary studies at WIU, also won the election to the Macomb BOE, earning 56 votes or 14.64 percent of total votes cast.

La Prad said his decision to run for the board was fueled by his desire to help Macomb schools be "the lighthouse schools of Illinois." He said he believes the Macomb School District can prove that school districts can be innovative and that even in tough fiscal times, a district can have "sound education for all kids, no matter what background they're coming in with."

Now that he's been elected, La Prad said he's interested in serving on the district's curriculum board. As a professor of education, he said he believes he can add insight into that aspect of the board.

Incumbent Ardell Thompson was also re-elected to the Macomb BOE. Thompson received 574 votes, or 14.98 percent of total votes cast. This being her fourth term on the board, Thompson said each time she's run for a seat, the board has turned over a little bit and she "always looks forward to and welcomes new faces."

"I believe this board will do what it needs to do to make this school district what it is and what it needs to be," she said.

Like Adams, Thompson indicated that much of the board's focus over the coming four years will be cost containment, as well as the district's collective bargaining agreement. Thompson also said it is essential that the board makes sure it keeps the school district fiscally solvent in order to "continue to provide everything we can for our children."

Of the three incumbents running for the Macomb BOE in Tuesday's election, incumbent Robert Shouse was not re-elected to another term. Shouse earned 495 votes, or 12.92 percent of total votes cast.

"I'm disappointed, but the people chose to go a different direction with some of the board members, and that's fine," he said. "I'm glad there were so many people that had an interest in running and serving on the school board. I'd rather it be like that than not have enough people running to fill all of the seats."

Although he wasn't re-elected this time around, Shouse said he "wouldn't rule anything out" in regard to future school board elections.

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